Be careful in America, premier Khrushchev!: Soviet perceptions of peaceful coexistence with the United States in 1959

The year 1959 was an important year in Soviet-American relations. In early July, the Soviet National Exhibition was opened in New York City and later in the month, an American National Exhibition opened in Sokolniki Park in Moscow. Within two weeks after the American Exhibition closed, Nikita Khrushchev embarked upon a trip to the United States. Khrushchev's America visit was given enormous weight in the Soviet Union and celebrated as a historical mission that would surely have important consequences for the entire world. This article explores a collection of letters written by Soviet citizens on the occasion of Khrushchev's 1959 visit to the New World. In these letters, Soviet citizens voiced their opinions about the goals of peaceful coexistence with the United States. The letter writers co-opted the relatively new language of peaceful coexistence and even discussed topics that until recently had been taboos, such as personal experiences with Americans. Many letters also celebrated the fact that the wartime alliance with Americans was now incorporated into the myth of the Great Patriotic War and extended high hopes for increased personal and cultural exchanges with Americans. Overall, the letters show how for a brief moment, peaceful coexistence with the United States seemed like a real possibility.